How change damaged the position of Chinese women - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

China's shift from a planned to a market has lifted millions out of poverty, but for many women the deal has been a bad one, says Beijing-based journalist Zhang Lijia, author of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China at Sea Globe.

Sea Globe:

Zhang pointed to figures released by the UN in 2015 that reveal a growing income gap between men and women in post-Mao China. The report found that between 1990 and 2010, average urban income for women as a percentage of that of men had dropped from 77.5% to 67.3%. For women outside the major cities, the figure was as low as 56%. 

“When China shifted from the planned economy to the market economy, women shouldered too much of the burden and cost,” Zhang said. “When the state-owned enterprises laid off workers, women were always the first to be let off. And it is much harder for middle-aged women to find re-employment. 

Zhang also pointed to a resurgence in pre-Maoist values that ascribed strict limits to the role – and value – of women in Chinese society. 

“I think some of the old attitudes towards women, which place women as inferior to men, resurfaced,” she said. “At workplaces, Mao-style gender equality has been replaced by open sexism… Sometimes they refuse to hire women of a child-bearing age or sack them after they become pregnant.”

More at Sea Globe.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more female speakers at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Income inequality grows, as economy declines - Sara Hsu

+Sara Hsu 

 Income inequality is nothing new in China, but as economic growth declines, inequality seems to grow disproportionately, writes financial analyst Sara Hsu in Triple Crisis. And that wealth moves abroad, in stead of helping the domestic economy to develop.

Sara Hsu:

Rapidly increasing wages in the financial and IT industries, contrasted with stable or slowly increasing wages in most other sectors (for example, utilities, construction, and transportation) has led to a sharp divergence between the income of the average worker and incomes of workers in privileged industries. What is more, the skyrocketing pay of top executives has enriched certain individuals over the masses.

China’s private financial wealth amounts to US$22 trillion, according to the Boston Consulting Group. This is equivalent to well over double China’s GDP in 2013. While the average per capita income was US$6,747 in 2013, Chinese executives averaged well over US$100,000. The poorest workers have also face delayed or partial payment of wages. In many cases, this has led to protests and legal action against employers.

Many of China’s super rich experienced poverty in their earlier years, and 80% of the super-rich became wealthy by building up their own businesses. The argument against burgeoning inequality is not that the wealthy have not worked hard to obtain their status, but rather that their status is far higher than that of the working man or woman. It is also that the current and changing economic structure in China appears to preserve this yawning income gap.

More in Triple Crisis. Sara Hsu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Are you looking for more financial experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this recent list. 

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